'If There's No Reason To Wait Then Why Wait 10 Days?': Reporter Grills Bruce On Russia Deadline

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State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce was asked about President Trump's new deadline for Russia to reach a ceasefire with Ukraine.

Transcript

00:00Yes, sir.

00:01Thank you, Tammy.

00:02We'll move to Ukraine, if I may.

00:03We have new deadline, and Ukrainians are certainly hopeful that the President's new deadline

00:07and his tough verse about Putin and Russia will follow with certain concrete actions.

00:14And in fact, yesterday you told the media that now we are going to see some actions.

00:17Yes.

00:18Now, the caveat that we have 10 days to go.

00:20Can you give a sense of –

00:21Oh, you might not even have 10 days.

00:22I would just suggest even when he set that 50-day timeline for Russia, I think one of

00:27the things I've said is, you know, that's – who knows when that could happen.

00:31He's had timelines before in which he acted very quickly.

00:35So I – with the President, he also noted that he was going to – he shortened that

00:41timeline because he pretty much knew what the situation was.

00:44My question is, can you give us any sense of any preparation that's going on in

00:48this business?

00:49So the Russians take it seriously?

00:50MS.

00:51Well, clearly, President Trump has proven that he should be taken seriously because

00:58he's a serious man.

01:00And we've seen the results of that around the world – again, most recently in the

01:06Indo-Pacific and, of course, with his envoys and the nature of the commitments we've made.

01:11I would say that what's been discussed regularly are sanctions – and the President also brought

01:16up the issue of sanctions, and even secondary sanctions, as certain countries are benefiting

01:22from buying Russian oil.

01:24And so – but that's up to the President.

01:26We've known that's in his toolbox.

01:28There are many things that he can – he can do, just as there are many things that Secretary

01:32Rubio can do and help facilitate.

01:35But the President himself mentioned those two dynamics.

01:38He has been patient, and that may have been misinterpreted by some people.

01:44And I think the time for misinterpretation is now over.

01:47But on that point, I mean, he knows the answer, and he also thinks that there's

01:51no reason to wait.

01:52If there's no reason to wait, then why wait 10 days?

01:54MS.

01:55Well, again, you're asking – there's – as we know, there are a million fronts

01:58in these kinds of dynamics.

01:59There's negotiations that go on.

02:01I can't speak to what the President's involved in, the conversations that are currently being

02:07had, and the importance of what the President says privately and publicly.

02:11I would just trust that he's the one who would know.

02:14And being in a position here at the State Department where we're all ready to do what

02:18we need to do to get this situation accomplished for the President.

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